Driver pleads guilty in fatal 101 crash that injured officer

Jeremy White pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges connected to a traffic crash on Highway 101 north of Ventura that paralyzed a California Highway Patrol officer and killed a man in a vehicle the officer had stopped.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kevin McGee set the sentencing for Sept. 11.

Seated in a wheelchair outside the courtroom, Pedeferri, who was an accomplished triathlete, said he forgave White for what he did to him.

"I really don't hold any ill will or animosity towards Jeremy. He's a young kid. He made serious and bad judgments," said Pedeferri, an 11-year veteran of the CHP. "I don't think that on that day he set out to kill somebody and run an officer over. I do forgive him, yeah. Because I don't think he meant to do it."

White, who has been in custody since the crash on Dec. 19, was inside a metal cage when prosecutor Scott Hendrickson read some of the terms of the plea agreement to him.

White, 20, pleaded guilty to two felonies: gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and selling and transporting marijuana. Also, he admitted to causing great bodily injury resulting in paralysis to Pedeferri.

Pedeferri said his recovery has been a "physical and mental test" of his willpower.

"I really haven't thought about Jeremy or the court case that much," Pedeferri said in a very soft voice.

Restitution must be paid

Inside the courtroom, Hendrickson told White that he would be on parole for three years after his release and must pay restitution to Pedeferri and Parra's family. White said he understood that he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Tests indicated that the drug Ecstasy and a high concentration of marijuana were found in White's blood, according to a county forensic analyst who testified in the case earlier this year.

"It's one of the highest levels I recall seeing," Dea Boehme, supervisor with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department Forensic Sciences Laboratory, said at White's preliminary hearing in April.

In an interview after the legal proceedings on Tuesday, White's lawyer, William Gamble, said his client always wanted to take responsibility for what he did.

"From the very beginning, from the very first day I met him," Gamble said. "He's a very quiet, resourceful young man that feels terrible about what happened."

Gamble said he had advised White not to enter a guilty plea until he had an opportunity to look at all the facts surrounding this case.

"Once we decided that a case was there, he wanted to continue on with his plea to guilty," Gamble said. "He feels absolutely terrible about what's happened. It's just one of those things in life. In the wrong place at the wrong time, the wrong events happen."

Motorcycle fell

Gamble said White has a medical prescription for marijuana, and he doesn't believe the drug had anything to do with the accident.

While White was driving his vehicle in the slow lane, the motorcycle he was transporting fell, triggering the accident, Gamble said.

"The state would argue that it was the drugs," he said. "But actually, one of the motorcycles fell, and he turned around to look. And, as you turn, if you put your hand on the wheel and turn around to look, what happens? You go off to the right."

The recovery process for Pedeferri has been slow, he said, noting that his voice is permanently damaged, causing him to speak at a very low volume. Also, he said, he suffered chest and lung damage and his spinal cord is severed.

Pedeferri said doctors gave him a 20 percent chance of surviving "the first nights" after the crash.

"It's been amazing, the support I've gotten from all the way around — the department, the community and my friends and my family," said the Camarillo resident. "They haven't forgot about me, which is nice."